Advice from practicing dentists

[OnTheFly32]

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I am going to start dental school this summer and I applied for a scholarship through the school. They pay full tuition and fees (I would still have to use ~120k in loans), and as pay back the student must serve in an underserved area for every year paid, plus one additional year. The thing is that you have to see every patient whether they can pay for the services or not.

My question is, do you think that it would be difficult to keep a good salary while essentially giving out free dental care? Do you think the loss of income from these patients is worth ~210k scholarship. Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[BluntForceTrauma]

I am going to start dental school this summer and I applied for a scholarship through the school. They pay full tuition and fees (I would still have to use ~120k in loans), and as pay back the student must serve in an underserved area for every year paid, plus one additional year. The thing is that you have to see every patient whether they can pay for the services or not.

My question is, do you think that it would be difficult to keep a good salary while essentially giving out free dental care? Do you think the loss of income from these patients is worth ~210k scholarship. Any feedback is appreciated.

For sure.

 

[Saddleshoes]

Ask if serving your "time" in a FQHC (Federally Qualified Health Clinic) or with the Indian Health Service or an undeserved county public health clinic, etc. counts. If you can work in one of this government clinics the problem of payment is not your concern.

 

[TanMan]

I am going to start dental school this summer and I applied for a scholarship through the school. They pay full tuition and fees (I would still have to use ~120k in loans), and as pay back the student must serve in an underserved area for every year paid, plus one additional year. The thing is that you have to see every patient whether they can pay for the services or not.

My question is, do you think that it would be difficult to keep a good salary while essentially giving out free dental care? Do you think the loss of income from these patients is worth ~210k scholarship. Any feedback is appreciated.

What is the value of the "full tuition and fees"? I put it in quotes because I wonder why you have to use 120k for loans and why it doesn't cover the 120k.

Here would be my questions to decide whether "full tuition and fees" are worth 4-5 years of your dental career?
1. Do you have to work for someone in these underserved areas or can you open your own office in an underserved region? If you can open your own office, great. If not, you need to look at your compensation structure really closely.
2. Do they pay your loans immediately or after serving your 4-5 year commitment? If money is available now, it's a better deal, if not, you might get screwed if the program ends abruptly.
3. Do you have to pay tax on that 210k? Tax-free is way better than taxable
4. What are the penalties for not serving your whole term?

5 year opportunity cost (+ private practice income differential) to work in low income clinic, in my opinion, is not worth it. Lets say you have to serve 5 years... 42k/year for loan repayment is not really much if you are looking at the grand scheme of opening a practice. 42k is something you can produce in a week(maybe net in 2 weeks) if you have your own office. If the penalties are steep, then you are essentially going to be penalized for going for taking a secondary loan for your student loan.

If you have no interest in private practice ownership and/or volume corporate dentistry, this might be a path to pursue. ALWAYS read the fine print though.

 

[lp3k11]

It could be a great opportunity, but the devil is in the details. I know people who basically became landlords doings this (my uncle for example), while others became miserable slaves of the contract, with no prospect of specialty, nor the money they hope.

 

[OnTheFly32]

What is the value of the "full tuition and fees"? I put it in quotes because I wonder why you have to use 120k for loans and why it doesn't cover the 120k.

Here would be my questions to decide whether "full tuition and fees" are worth 4-5 years of your dental career?
1. Do you have to work for someone in these underserved areas or can you open your own office in an underserved region? If you can open your own office, great. If not, you need to look at your compensation structure really closely.
2. Do they pay your loans immediately or after serving your 4-5 year commitment? If money is available now, it's a better deal, if not, you might get screwed if the program ends abruptly.
3. Do you have to pay tax on that 210k? Tax-free is way better than taxable
4. What are the penalties for not serving your whole term?

5 year opportunity cost (+ private practice income differential) to work in low income clinic, in my opinion, is not worth it. Lets say you have to serve 5 years... 42k/year for loan repayment is not really much if you are looking at the grand scheme of opening a practice. 42k is something you can produce in a week(maybe net in 2 weeks) if you have your own office. If the penalties are steep, then you are essentially going to be penalized for going for taking a secondary loan for your student loan.

If you have no interest in private practice ownership and/or volume corporate dentistry, this might be a path to pursue. ALWAYS read the fine print though.

My estimate for 120k may be on the high side, but in the program brochure they estimated the amount of assistance at approximately 208k. The total cost of attendance will be roughly 330k for all four years. The biggest portion of loan money I would have to take out is for living. I am assuming that they don't pay for things like insurance and books, either.

I asked how the recipients would find work among graduation, and was told that it is the students responsibility to find employment. So I believe that I would be able to open my own practice. It just has to be in an area of the state that is determined to be under served. The funding is awarded annually as long as the student is in good academic standing. I believe that it is tax free, and by not fulfilling the whole term I would have to pay back the scholarship, plus a 25% fee (total amount owed is reduced based on how many years served).

I definitely want to have my own practice within a couple years after graduating, but who knows a lot can go on in the next few years. Thanks for your detailed response, it definitely put some things into perspective.

 

[OnTheFly32]

It could be a great opportunity, but the devil is in the details. I know people who basically became landlords doings this (my uncle for example), while others became miserable slaves of the contract, with no prospect of specialty, nor the money they hope.

It is a state funded program, so there is a lot of details that probably go unnoticed. Based on the description, I believe that recipients are not allowed to specialize after graduation until their commitment time is served. I don't know if I want to specialize, but it would be disappointing to have to wait 5 years to do so if there was something I felt really passionate about.